Sanitary cover for food-receptacles.



P. J. POWERS & L. L. GUIBORD. SANITARY COVER FOR FOOD REGEPTACLESQAPPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1910.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

P. J POWERS-8; L. L. GUIBOR'D. SANITARY covnn FOR FOOD BEGEPTAOLES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1910.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

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THE NORRIS PETERS 60-, PHOTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. D. C,

UNITED STATES PATENT oFEIoE.

PATRICK J. S, or WINTHRoP, AND .LnoNARnL. GUIBORIg-OF ARLINGTON,

" MASSACHUSETTS. e I

, SANITARY, oovnnrort Foon-nEoEP-rAoLEs.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented bct, 1 3, 1914.

Application filed June 24, 1910. SerialNo. 568,675.

To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that we, PArnIoK J Pownns, a citizen of the United States,resid ng at Winthrop, county of- Suffolk, State of Masthe retailer inboxes, barrels, etc.,*and When the package arrives at thestorethetop isremoved and the contents are @sold from the open box or barrel. 1Frequently .no attempt whatever is made to keep the box or barrelcovered while the food is exposed for sale and as. a result the foodwhich is sold is sometimes in an unsanitary condition.

Our invention aims to provide a novel cover which can be readily appliedto a box or other receptacle containing f ood and which can be readilyopened to give access to the box, but by which the box can be keptclosed and the contents thereofprotected.

The. features wherein our invention resides will be more fullyhereinafter described and then pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 top. planj view of a box having our improvedcover.

applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a section on the line aa 00, Fig. 1; Fig. 3is an enlarged section on the line ck-y, Fig. 1; Fig. 4'isan enlargedsection on theline a-a, Fig. 1; Fig. 5 isa perspective view showing adifferent manner of using our improved cover;

Fig. 6 is a section through the, side of the cover frame showing afriction device which mayv be employed for holding the cover indifferent positions; Fig. 7 is a section through one side of the frameof the cover showing a modified construction.

' Our invention as herein illustratedcoin prises aframe having an.opening therethrough and adapted to be applied to the open side of thefood receptacle, a spring roller. supported by the'frame, anda flexible'cover or [closure connected to {the spring roller. and adapted to be:eithenwound up thereon thereby affordingaccess to the box or to be drawnover the opening in the cover to closethe'same. 1

Our improvements can beso constructed as: to"be1 used in connection withany food receptacle having an open sidegorf top, In

Figs. 1 and 2we have shown it aslit would be used on an ordinary box,such as crackers orw'afers are packed in, while in Fig. 5 we have shownit as it would be applied to a counter which is partially closed byglass.

In'Figs. 1 and-2', 3 designates an ordinary rectangular box havingcrackers or wafers l therein. The cover which we would use in connectionwith abox of thistype would preferably be rectangular in shape to fittheshape of the .box, and in the embodiment illustrated 5 designates therectangular frame for the. cover which is in theform of a rectangularrim adapted to rest on the top of, the box 3. The spring roller is shown6 andinay have any suitable or usual construction and is hereinillustrated. as jour:

naled inl the sides of the frame at one end thereof. The flexibleclosure is shown at 7 and it is secured'at one end to the roller ,6

known way. We will preferably make the closure 7 of. a flexibletransparent" material,

to hold "and guide the closure as it is wound so that it can be wound upthereon in a well, 7

. such, for instance, as celluloid. In order on or unwound from theroller 6,.we have provided each sidejof theframe 5 with the guidinggroove 8"in which the edge of the closure 7 is received, as clearly seenin Figs. 2, I3. and 4-. The, free end of theclosurefi is sustainedbetween two, clamping members which hold it fromcui'ling and which alsoby their co-actionj with the frame hold straight as it is wound on orunwound from the roller. 1 These two clamping plates are shown at 9 and10, respectively, and the end of the closure 7 issituated between them,and the two plates are clamped together, in

some suitable way as means of screws 11.

The under clamping plate 9. is preferably providedwith a stiffeningflange 12 which 9 theends 13 of said plate project into the runssubstantially the lengthwthereof and grooves 8,asclearly seenin Fig. 4:.The top clamping plate .10 is provided at each end with the extension14i;,.the edges l5 ofwhich lie against the inner edges of the sides ofthe frames, as clearly seen in F 45. Theseedges'15 are of suflicientlength so that they hold the clamping plate in its right-line p0- Thethe' clamping members always in their proper position and yet permitsthem to slide freely back and forth in the frame.

The upper clamping member has fast thereto a; spring c'atch'17 which isadapted to I- snap over theendof the frame 5, as seen in Fig. 1, andthus lock the closure in its closed position. Either the spring catch orthe upper clamping plate has extending upw'ardlytherefrom a finger piece18 by which theclosure may be opened and shut. If it isdesired toprovide for holding the closure any adjusted position, that is, eitherpartway open or entirely open, we

may provide the friction fingers 19 which are secured to the underclamping plate 9 and engage the under face 20 of the flange inf'fwhichthe. groove 8 is formed, these fingers 19 serving to apply suflicientfriction open; The spring roller is situated entirely to the flange tohold the closure partially one end on the top by a plate 71 which coversover the roller and extends to the grooves *8. The closure 7 therefore,at the point where it enters the end of the groove 1 8 nearest thespring roller is substantially in 1; adapted to engage a shoulder 51formed on contact with the edge of the plate 71 and; the frame 5. A pushpin 52 is shown for thus'a tight joint is produced. .This plate 71'serves, therefore, not only to protect and 1 conceal the roller, butalso to close any; opening whichmight exist around theroller for 'theadmission of dust or dirt.

The spring ofthe spring roller need only bestrong enough to take up theslack in the flexible-closure as the clamping plates are} ino've'd-'tofopen the cover. With this ar-; rangement the food in the box can bekept clean and free from dust and yet whenever a sale'is tobe m'adetheclosure 8 can be readily slipped open sufliciently to permit the adesired quantity to be removed and then 1 can be readily closedagain.The frame 5 j maybe 'securedto the box in'any appropriate way. We havehereinshownfor this purpose "two lips 22' extending downwardly from theinner edge of the frame at one end and adapted to engage the inner sideof the box and at the other end of the frame .wefhave showntwo brackets23 each carryinga clampingscrew 24 which is adapted to engage the innerside of the'box.

application to the box.

"In Fig. 5 we'have shown a construction whereln o'u'r improved cover 1sadapted to clo'se'the open side of a show-case which is The V clampingscrews and the fingers 22 serve partially closed by glass. In somestores the crackers and other food products are arranged on a counter 25and at the front of the counter is placed a glass front 26 from the topof which a glass top 27 extends rearwardly, thus protecting the foodproducts from being handled by the customers who stand in front of thecounter. In this construction, however, the back of the counter isalways open so that the food products are exposed. Our improved framecan be readily applied to a food receptacle of this construction, and inFig. 5 we have shown said frame 5 as having secured to the end thereofat which the roller 6 is located a sheet metal holder bent to form thetwo wings 270, 28, the wing 270 being fastened to the top of the frameand the Wing 28 extending at an angle thereto so that it can be made torest on the edge of the glass 27, as shown in the drawings. The otherend of the frame 5 may be secured to the counter in various ways as bymeans of the clips or brackets 29;

By using other simple attachments a frame embodying our invention can beused for closing the open top or side of any usual food receptacle.

In lieu of the catch 17, as seen in Figs. 1 and2, we may employ thecatch 50 shown in Fig. 7 which is a spring finger secured to theunderside of the clamping plate 9 and releasing the catch from theshoulder.

Various other changes in the constructional details of the device may bemade without departing from the invention.

Having fully described our invention,

1 what we claim as new and desire to secure 5 by Letters Patent 1s:-

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frameprovided with an opening and also provided with means to detachablysecure it to the open side of a box 1 or case, said frame having groovesin its opposite sides, of a spring roller journaled in the frame, aflexible closure secured to the roller and having its edges occupyingsaid grooves, and clamping plates secured to the end of the closure, theends of one of said plates entering and being guided by the grooves, theother plate having elongated edges which engage the inner face of theframe side and prevent the closure from twisting.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frameprovided with an opening and also provided with means to detachablysecure it to the open side of a box or case, said frame having groovesin its opposite sides, of a spring roller journ'aled in the frame, aflexible closure secured to the roller and having its edges occupyingsaid grooves, and clamping plates secured to the end of the closure andextending from one" side to the other of the frame, the ends of one ofsaid plates entering and being guided by the grooves and the ends of t eother plate engaging the inner part of the frame.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a framehaving two 0pposed grooved parallel sides and formed with an openingbetween said sides, of means to detachably secure said frame to the openside of a box, a spring r011 journaled within the frame at one end, aflexible closure secured to the roll and having its edges occupying saidgrooves, and a plate extending from one side of the frame to the 15"other and covering said roll.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, 1 Washington, D. 0.

